HomeFree Video TutorialsFairy School TutorialClasses

Sunday, November 21, 2010

At Home with Jane Austen

When I took this photo, I was I standing at the cross roads near the home where Jane Austen lived for her last eight years. During these years she wrote most of her major works. Jane lived in Chawton Village, England from 1809 to 1817.
This is one side of the large cottage, the door to the left is the entrance to the kitchen, and the door on the right goes into the parlor. Originally the entrance was on the street side of the house. I am taking this photo from the side garden, which is shown in the photo below. The entire time I was here, my thoughts were "Jane walked in this garden, Jane sat in this room...."

Below is the back garden. The grounds are lovely,
and I wonder if they were so when Jane lived there.

I took this photo below to show the beautiful moss
growing on the tree's trunk and the stone fence.

This is the dining room where the Austens had their meals.
Jane would have been in charge of breakfast each morning.

Today I want to share with you why this room was so special to me (as I mentioned in my first Jane Austen post). Can you see it?
It is not the tea wares, nor even the tablecloth with Jane's own needle work on it.

It is not this lovely dress.
You can not see it in the photo of the dining room as it was behind me as I took the picture. I heard from my friend that it was a nightmare to create! How does my friend know this? She just happens to live next door to a very talented seamstress who does many important historical projects, one being to recreate Jane's clothing! All the dresses in the house were made by this gifted lady. I will show the rest in another post.

Here is the reason this room is so special to me...this is where Jane sat each morning and wrote. Here, at this spot, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion were written...imagine that....at this little table by the window!

This is a poster about the history of her writing spot.

I have long admired Jane and her ability to write stories
that draw us in and transport us to another time, stories that teach us about humanity.

Standing there by that table, my admiration for her grew immensely. While I pamper myself with a laptop, a Lazyboy and hot chocolate, she wrote day after day on this tiny table, sitting in that little hard chair....with a quill!
What an amazing woman she was,
what an imagination and understanding of human beings she must have had!

Thank you so much for coming by and visiting today.
I appreciate each and every one of you!
Hugs,
Terri

19 comments:

Kris Dickinson said...

Thank you for sharing your wonderful visit with us. Jane Austen is my favorite author and I loved seeing where she lived and wrote.

-Kris

Victoria said...

HI Terri! Hugs! Thankyou for sharing such a powerful post..BEAUTIFUL!WOw!Inspiring!

Laura's Rose Garden said...

Hello Terri,
Oh Honey, thank you so much for sharing your pics and thoughts from your visit to Jane's house. I have to read more of your postings because I have been too busy to check lately.
Drop over to my blog when you can.
Warm hugs, Laura

Norma Bennett said...

How amazing to be there!! I suspect there were a few shivers up and down the spine :)

Thanks for calling by my blog Terri, as for the 'following' question yes I have certainly made that 'mistake' before - or is it that I did indeed follow it but somehow it just got 'lost' - Blogger is a strange and unpredictable beast at the best of times!

I wish you luck with my mini giveaway - I'm astonished at the interest in the little pillows.

Last week I finally bought the Mixed Media Dollhouse book you posted about some months ago when you did your darling schoolhouse project - I have no idea when I'll have time to 'dabble' with the idea but one lives in hope :) I'm so happy at least to have some time for a few weeks to work on minis now that university is done for the year down here. Spending today doing my best to make opening French windows...

Jocelyn said...

I love reading about your visit to Jane Austen's house. And how amazing to be in the spot where she wrote the most wonderful books I've ever read. Thanks for sharing.

Jocelyn
http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

Lynn Stevens said...

It must have been amazing to walk here she once was! Lovely pictures!

Creative Grammie said...

Aloha terri,
This is such an awesome post! Thank you so much for sharing the photos of your visit. Mostly, thank you for your thoughts as you toured this most historic home of one of my favorite writers; so eloquently done.
Hugs.

Marjanne said...

Very special to go back in time...

Gaby Bee said...

Fabulous pictures! Thanks for sharing with us! I loved reading about your visit to Jane Austen's house.

KathyB. said...

This is very interesting, and to me , amazing. We truly do enjoy so many luxuries in these times and take them for granted, often using comfort and inconvenience as excuses to not do many things. Yet in her passion and love for writing it most likely would not have occurred to her to NOT write, and we are thankful she did. Thank-you for this post.

Linda Vincent said...

What a beautiful house... I must put it on my list of places to go.
Great photo of you Terri...the long hair suits you!
X

Claudia said...

Oh Terri, thank you so much for this post about my one of my favorite authors. It is so neat to see her home and know that she sat at that table and wrote books that I continue to read again and again.

xo
Claudia

Cynthia said...

That is really special. Thank you for sharing these pictures. I hope one day to travel to England. Jane Austen's house is sure to be on my list of places to visit (as well as charles Dickens' homes).

Lady Jane said...

Thank you for sharing this awe inspiring journey with us. I have made a promise to myself that I would read some of the classics again.I have read the works of Charles Dickens and Little Women and some of the other stories written by Louisa May Alcott. Jane Austin was on my list and has now been brought to the top of it.She was an amazing woman. Thank you. Blessings, Lady Jane

Unknown said...

Oh I love Jane Austin (I may have mentioned it before lol) And you were in England I missed you (I live in NW of the UK) I did invite you to come and see Pemberly (actually it's Lyme Park) but it was filmed in the great BBC P&P I have never been to JA house it looks wonderful and I so agree about the table. You say she only spent the last 9yrs of her life here and yet she wrote all her books in that time, I really must read up on her. Thank you for sharing the precious time you spent here

Love Dawn xx

Marianne C. said...

Terri, I've been meaning to say how wonderful to post all the Jane Austen photos. That must have been such a wonderful feeling to stand where she lived and wrote.

I enjoyed her books very much. They kept me company many lonely nights, years ago, when my husband traveled out of town. Thank you for sharing.

Sugar Lump Studios said...

what a beautiful post and awesome photos! looks like such a wonderful place!

Cassandra said...

Oh wow how exciting! I can only imagine how wonderful it was to be there! Everything is so beautiful! Such lovely photos! What an exciting trip, thanks so much for sharing :) xo Cassandra

Jill Marcott-McCall ~Feathers & Flight~ said...

Dear Terri;
What a wonderful Visit it must have been! What a Modest Simple Writing Desk.What most Marvelous Books she Wrote for us to all Love to this Day
Thank you for sharing!
Hugs
Jill

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...